Citation

Ostrowsky MK. Trauma Violence Abuse 2016; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of History, Sociology, & Anthropology, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT, USA ostrowsky@suu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524838016663937

PMID

27582409

Abstract

This review makes four contributions to the sociological study of sports fans, alcohol use, and violent behavior. First, this article focuses explicitly on the relationship between alcohol use and violent behavior among sports fans. This is a worldwide social problem, yet it is quite understudied. Second, this article synthesizes the fragmented literature on alcohol use and violent behavior among sports fans. Third, this article identifies four broad sets of risk factors-sociocultural, event/venue, police, and crowd-that appear to be closely related to violent behavior among sports fans. Finally, to help explain the possible correlation between alcohol and violence among sports fans, this article draws upon the key understandings from the literature on alcohol and violence in wider society. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

© The Author(s) 2016.

Language: en